As someone privileged to direct a summer camp for teenagers, I have learnt much about their mindset. What brings them closer to Judaism and what distances them. What inspires them and what turns them off. And because we encourage dialogue, our campers express their innermost feelings. With this blog, I would like to share what I learned and maybe even speak for a voice that sometimes isn't heard.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Dvar Torah Parshas Vayigash - The Importance of Escorting Guests

Guest post by: Mordechai Plotsker

וַיְדַבְּרוּ אֵלָיו אֵת כָּל דִּבְרֵי יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֲלֵהֶם וַיַּרְא אֶת הָעֲגָלוֹת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יוֹסֵף לָשֵׂאת אֹתוֹ וַתְּחִי רוּחַ יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם - And they told him all of Joseph's words that he had said to them, and he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of their father Jacob was revived. (Br 45:27)

Rashi comments that יוֹסֵף sent agalos (wagons) and upon seeing the wagons, יַעֲקֹב was reminded of eglah arufah, the last Torah topic they learned together.

Whereas Rashi focuses on the first words, וַיַּרְא אֶת הָעֲגָלוֹת, the Kli Yakar emphasizes - that אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַח יוֹסֵף – that יוֹסֵף sent) as the key component that brought יַעֲקֹב back to life.

What can we learn from יוֹסֵף 's action of escorting (liviya) ones guest(s)?
According to the Kli Yakar, when יַעֲקֹב escorted יוֹסֵף to the Valleys of Chevron (toward Shechem where his brothers tended to their sheep), he practiced liviya while explaining the importance of the mitzvah, as the pasuk states, וַיֹּאמֶר יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל יוֹסֵף הֲלוֹא אַחֶיךָ רֹעִים בִּשְׁכֶם לְכָה וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֲלֵיהֶם וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ הִנֵּנִי - And Israel said to Joseph, "Are your brothers not pasturing in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." And he said to him, "Here I am." (Brieshis 37:13).

The Ohr Hachaim explains the wordsלְכָה וְאֶשְׁלָחֲך (ibid., 37:13) as follows: Go toward your brothers and not be concerned whether they despise you for you will not be harmed since I (יַעֲקֹב) will personally escort you on your path to and we are all familiar with the Talmudic dictum: והאמר רבי אלעזר שלוחי מצוה אינן ניזוקין – Rabbi Elazar said, an individual sent to perform a mitzvah will not be harmed. (Pesachim 8b).

We trace יַעֲקֹב actions of escorting guests to Avraham as the pasuk states, וַיָּקֻמוּ מִשָּׁם הָאֲנָשִׁים וַיַּשְׁקִפוּ עַל פְּנֵי סְדֹם וְאַבְרָהָם הֹלֵךְ עִמָּם לְשַׁלְּחָם - And the men arose from there, and they looked upon Sodom, and Abraham went with them to escort them (Breishis 18:16). Rashi explains that the word " לְשַׁלְּחָם " as lilvosom -to escort them. Therefore, יַעֲקֹב sent יוֹסֵף on his journey from Chevron toward Shechem, Vayishlichahu me'emek Chevron, because Chevron is where the great tzadik Avraham is buried, the first to practice mitzvahs liviya). יַעֲקֹב reasoned this would serve as a zchus for his son יוֹסֵף who was about to begin a (long) journey. Additionally, Avraham planted a tree - Vayita Eishel. Rashi explains Eishel is an acronym for the kindness Avraham provided his guests, specifically, achila - food, shtiya - drink, and liviya, accompanying guest(s) as they departed his presence. (Sotah 10a).

The significance of escorting ones guests cannot be underscored. When a guest is escorted, thieves and murderers hesitate killing such a person because family members (father and/or brothers) will demand blood (go'aley hadam). However, non-escorted guests face grave danger as murderers do not factor retribution. Therefore, failure to escort ones guest(s) is comparative to murder and subsequent cause for an eglah arufa.

When the brothers told their father that Yosef had sent these wagons, יַעֲקֹב understood that יוֹסֵף must surely be alive because:

1. יוֹסֵף exhibited kindness through his speech and by personally escorting the brothers to the wagons, an act well beyond his elevated social status. Therefore, when the brothers relayed יוֹסֵף 's words and actions, יַעֲקֹב felt revived.

2. Additionally, each Egyptian wagon (all under Paroh's control) displayed the King's royal seal. יוֹסֵף could have reasoned that he was not required to send off his brothers through escort since they were already given an honorable exit through Paroh's chariots. Only royalty used chariots -who would dare attack the King? Therefore, as an additional public display of the sanctity of mitzvas liviya, יוֹסֵף, against his social graces and before the entire land of Egypt escorted his brothers in order to ensure their safe passage home.

This impressed יַעֲקֹב as it was clear that יוֹסֵף 's actions, as second in command and most influential Egyptian, were both completely irrational to the brothers and the Egyptians, yet entirely rational and expected of a ben Torah. Beyond reasonable doubt, יוֹסֵף fulfilled the mitzvah of liviya not because of social pressure from his elevated office - for which there was none, but rather because of Das Torah and shmiros hamitzvos. יַעֲקֹב now understood that even in Mitzrayim, יוֹסֵף adhered to HSHM and the mitzvos. This solidified his revival and faith that indeed his long lost son was not dead but rather very much alive.

Eilu Devarim: Each morning we state that one of the things man can reap interest in this world and principal in the next is halvayashamais - escorting the dead. It is clear from this dvar Torah that liviya, aspracticed by our Avos, adds sanctity and honor to all G-ds creations, especially those who can no longer say thank you.

After the brothers buried יַעֲקֹב in Chevron's mearas hamachpaila, יוֹסֵף detoured the entourage north toward Shechem, returning to the very pit in which he was thrown some 34 years prior, where he stated the following words: "Baruch She'asa li nissim bamakom hazeh" - Blessed are you HSHM who performed a miracle for me in this place. (Medrash Tanchuma, Vayechi). יַעֲקֹב's liviya resulted in a miracle for יוֹסֵף, securing his passage to great prominence. The planned and unplanned are all designed by HSHM and everything HSHM causes to happen, in the end, is all for our own personal good.

While learning in eretz Yisroel, Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim (92-94), I had the unique experience of spending Shabbos by Rav Zalman Brizal ZTL, the mara d'asra of Geula. I was always amazed and could never forget how after visiting this great tzadik, he always walked me out to the street from his apartment in Geula, Rechov Amos 10. Reb Zalman ZTL was surely familar with this Kli Yakar.

May we be zoche to have many guest(s) visit us for Shabbos and then properly escort them so they may continue their journey safely home. Good Shabbos.

Below is additional information on Eglah Arufah and an amazing remez by Dr. Eli Wagshall.

The parsha of eglah arufah begins with the following passage: כִּי יִמָּצֵא חָלָל בָּאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ לְרִשְׁתָּהּ נֹפֵל בַּשָּׂדֶה לֹא נוֹדַע מִי הִכָּהוּ - If a slain person be found in the land which the Lord, your God is giving you to possess, lying in the field, [and] it is not known who slew him. (Devarim 21:1). The subject matter discusses a dead corpse found within city limits. While the murderer remains at large, the elders (Sanhedrin) convene and measure the proximity of the corpse to the nearest town. The elders take a calf (in its first year) that has neither labored nor burdened in the field that has not been worked (Sotah 45b) and breaks the back of the calf’s neck with a long knife. The calf which did not produce fruit is fatally crippled in a place that cannot bear fruit to atone for the corpse which can no longer produce fruit - to produce mitzvos (Sotah 46a).

The elders then wash their hands over the calf and announce "Our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see. Atone for your people Yisroel whom you have redeemed, HSHM, do not place innocent blood in the midst of your people Yisroel." The elders are then instructed to remove the innocent blood from its midst "for you shall do what is upright in the eyes of HSHM." Couple things to quickly clarify: Removing innocent blood refers to the murderer who will be put to death if found after the calf's neck has been broken. The calf does not atone for the murderer's act. (Sotah 47b). Second, when the Sanhedrin says "our hands have not spilled this blood" would anyone suspect that the Sanhedrin spilled blood? Rather, they are stating that we did not see him leaving, and sent him off without food and escort (Sotah 45b).

Dr. Elimelech Wagshall (a descendant of the Noam Elimelech and resident of Marine Park) developed a remez connecting Parshas Vayigash to Eglah Arufah and יוֹסֵף to יַעֲקֹב. Beginning with the second, word, the first six letters of the first six words that begin the parsha of Eglah Arufah (Devarim 21:1) state כִּי יִמָּצֵא חָלָל בָּאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָ־ה - If a corpse will be found on the land that HSHM... is meramez to (Od) Avi Chai (yud, chet = chai, bet, alef, yud = AhVI (My father is still alive).